Two-section overhead door



Jan. 7, 1941. H. B. CLARK l1WO-SEC'I'ION vOVERHEAD DOOR '7 Sheets-Shec 1Filed Sept. 16, 1959 'ATTORNEY Jan. 7,' 19211. H, a CLARK Two-SECTIONOVERHEAD Doon Filed Sept. 16. 1939 7 Sheets-Sheet 2 R O T N E v m BY lATTORNEY Jan. 7, 1941.

H. B. CLARK TWO-SECTION OVERHEAD DOOR Filed Sept. 16, 1959 'l SheetsSheet I5 Illlll INVENTOR ffy ATTORNEY Jan. 7, 1941. H. B. CLARKTwo-sEcT1oN OVERHEAD noem Filed sept. 16, 1959 7 Sheets-Sheet 4INVEN-roR feng/Z gn/f BY M M A'TORNEY Jan. 7, 1941. H. B. CLARKTWO-'SECTION OVERHEAD DOOR Filed sept. 16, 1939 7 Sheets-Sheet 5'INVENTO Jan. 7, 1941.I

H. B. CLARK TWO-SECTION OVERHEAD DOOR "7 Sheets-Sheet 6 Filed Sept. 15,1959 INV-ENTOR H6277 65'/ n? Y l ATTORNEY Jan. 7, 1941. H B CLARK2,227,571

TWO-SECTION OVERHEAD DOOR Filed Sept. 16, 1939 '7 Shees-Sl'xee'ci 7 ai.,/---wg '.55

i I l( r l TTORNEY U atented Jan. 7, 1941 ATEN'T @me 7 Claims.

5 that the panel sections may be arranged 'in aA common plane in a dooropening for closing the door and m'ay pivotally relatively move topermit raising of the panel sections and movement` thereof from thevertical plane into a horizontal i plane overhead for opening the doors,the panel sections being mountedon rollers running in tracks. Doors ofthis type most, generally include three or more panel sections, and areexpensive to l manufacture and install, as well as being heavy anddifficult to operate. Two-section overhead doors have been' proposed,for; example as shown in Patent No. l1,629,973 dated May 24, 1927, butsuch doors are objectionable in that the panel 0 sections swinginwardlyof the door opening in folded relation so that the operator, if standingnear the door, may be struck by the inwardly swinging sections.Furthermore, such twofsectiondoors are diiilcult to operate, especiallybecause substantially the whole weight of( the door must be' elevated inopening'the door. Heretofore, as far as known to me, no two-sectionoverhead door has been mounted to move on .tracks so that thetwo-section door may be operated in a manner similar/to the operation ofthe more common door having three vor four sections.

Therefore, a prime lobject of my invention is to `provide a, ,twosection overhead door which shall embody lnovel and improved f aturesofconstruction whereby the two sectio can be moved from a common verticaldoor-closing position up-l wardly to an approximately horizontaldooropening positiomand vice versa.. without objectionable projection ofthe sections laterally from Por throughthe door openings.

Another object isto provide such a two-section overhead door which shallembody novel and improved features of construction whereby the door canbe opened. and closed with a'minimum expenditure of energy by theoperator and without danger to the operator from being struck by thedoor/during its movement from open to closed positions, and vic versa. i

Other objects are to provide an overhead door 4 of the general characterdescribed which shall be light in weight, simpleand Yinexpensive inconstruction and easy to operate, and to obtain other advantages andresults as will be brought outby the following description when read inconjuncf tion with the accompanying drawings. in which Figure 1 is avertical sectional view through an overhead door construction embodyingmyinvention, illustrating the door in closed position.

Figure 2 is a similar view showing the door partially opened. 5

Figure 3 is alike view showing the door in further open position; y

Figure 4 is a. view similar to Figure 2 showing the d oor completelyopened.

Figure 5 is a fragmentary front elevational 1 0 view oflone side of thedoor viewing the same vfrom the line 5-5 of Figure 1. l

Figure 6 is a vertical sectional view on the line 6-6 of Figure 1showing the door in rear elevation. f ,15

Figure 7 is a side elevational view on an enlarged scale of the outerside of the upper por#- tions oi the tracks.

Figures 8, 9 and 10 are horizontal sectional vviews on the lines 8 8,9--9 and Ill-I0 respec- 2 tively of Figure 1; f

Figure-11 is a side elevational view oi a lock for'locking the door inclosed position.

Figure 12'is a rear elevational view of the lock. 2

Figurel is a view similar to Figure 1 showing a'modiilcation of theinvention, illustrating the door inclosed position.

' Figure 14 is a similar View showing the door in .open position. f

Figures 15,- 16 and 17 are horizontal sectional views on the respectivelines IS-IS/IE--i and ll--Il of Figure 13.v

Figure 18 is a fragmentary rear elevational .view of the lower corner ofthe door with portions '35l broken away and showrrin section.

:Figure 121s a vertical sectional view on the line Isf-Ilot. Figure 18.

Figure 20 is a similar view on the line Zik-20 Figure 2 1 is a compositefragmentary perspective view of themeans for connecting the cable to thedoor and the door to one of the vertical guides. v Figure 22 is aviewsimilar to Figure 1 showing 45 another modification of the inventionillustrating the door closed. v

Figure 23 is asimilar view showing the door partially open. s l

Figure 24 is a fragmentary elevational view of '50 thein'ner side of thedoor viewing the same from the line 24--24 of Figure 22.V Figures 25, 26and 27`are horizontal sectional views on the lines 25725, 2S-26 and21--21 oi' Figure 22. ll

= pintle 3 of the hinge E at each side edge of ther Figure 2 8 is avertical sectional view on the line 28--28 of Figure 22, and

Figure 29 is a fragmentary perspective view of the bracket forconnecting the cable to the door.

Specifically describing the illustrated embodiment of the' invention thereference character A designates the wall of a building which has a dooropening B at the inner edge of which is the usual door stop or jamb Cagainst which the door D abuts when the door isr in closed position.

'I'he door comprises two substantially identical lpanel sections I, ofsuch dimensions that together, when they are disposed in ai commonvertical plane, will close the door opening as shown in Figure l. Theadjacent edges of the two sections I are hingedly connected on theirinnerv sides by hinges E each comprising two hinge sections 2 that areconnected by a pintle 5 and each of which is rigidly connected to one ofthe door sections.

Within the door opening and adjacent the top of each side thereof is ahorizontal track 4 that is connected by suitable brackets 5 and 6 to theceiling and wall of the building, the forward ends of the tracks 4 beingcurved downwardly at 'l to a point adjacent thetop of the door opening.

Also, within the door opening and at`Y each side thereof is mounted avertical track 8 yextending the full height of the door opening andsecured at its upper end to the corresponding horizontal track 4 as at 9and having its lower ends secured to the wall A as by a bracket i5.

An arcuate`track'll traverses the angle between the horizontal andvertical tracks 4 and E and extends from a point slightly below thehinged edges of the door sections when the door is closed-to a pointintermediate the length of the horizontal track 4, said arcuate trackbeing connected to and supported by the horizontal and vertical tracks,but being shown as discontinuous with and disposed inwardly of boththereof.

Guide means slidably suport the upper end of the top section of thedoor, the hinged edges of both sections and the lower end of the bottomsection in said horizontal, arcuate and vertical tracks, respectively,whereby the door sections can be moved from a common verticaldoor-closing position as shown in Figure l to an approximatelyhorizontal overhead door-opening position shown in Figure 4, and viceversa. This guide means comprises rollers I2, each journaled in abracket I3 at each side edge of the top of the upper section of thedoor, said rollers being movable along the corresponding horizontaltracks 4. A roller I4 is also journaled on the door, and moves in thearcuate track II, while each of two other rollers I5 is journaledl on abracket I6 at each side edge of the bottom of the lower door section andmoves in the corresponding vertical track 8.

The radius of the arcuate track II is related to the vertical andhorizontal tracks and to the height of the door sections I sothat theint'ermediate guide roller I4 and either of the upper guide roller I2and' bottom guide roller I5 shall not be disposed at the same time inthe straight track portions beyond opposite ends of thearcuate portion,whereby there is no possibility of the door sections becoming jammed inthe tracks during opening or closing of the doors. In other words, theradius of the arcuate track II is of a length of the order of fromapproximately onethird to approximately one-half of the height of thedoor opening B. With this structure. the

door sections I are disposed at wide obtuse angles to each otherthroughout their movements between said vertical door-closing positionand the horizontal door-opening position, so that the upper vsection canbe continuously and freely actuated in both directions by force appliedto the lower section to move the latter upwardly and downwardly. It willbe observed that should the lower -section assume an acute angularrelation or a narrow obtuse angular relation to the upper section, itwould be practically impossible,

or at least difficult to move the two sections together in tracks ineither direction by force applied to either section. This can be moreclearly visualized from a study of Figures 2 and 3 which show the doorsections in different intermediate positions between the door closingand door opening positions.

` With this construction, to'open the door from the closed positionshown in Figure, l, it is merely necessary to exert a slight liftingforce on the lower section which will cause the rollers I at the top ofthe upper section to follow the horizontal tracks 4 rearwardly, and atthe same time will cause the rollers I4 and I5\to follow the arcuate andvertical tracks respectively, until the two sections are brought intoapproximately horizontal overhead position as shown in Figure 4. Toclose the door, a downward pull is exerted on the lower section,whereupon the two sections descend along their respective tracks untilthe sections reach their common vertical door-closing position shown inFigure l.

It is desirable to counter-balance the weight of the door, and for thispurpose I may provide any suitable means 'such as a spring Il at eachside and inwardly of the door opening having one end connected to afixed support such as the bracket 5, and having'l a pulley I8 connectedto its other end over which passes a cable I9 one end of which isconnected to a xed support, for example one of the tracks, at 20. Thecable then passes over an idler pulley 2Ir mounted on the horizontaltrack and has its other end connected toa stud 23 at the side edge ofthe bottom of the lower section. vWith the springs Il of proper strengthit has been found that the door may be raised and lowered by a slightexpenditure of l manual energy by the operator,`and the springs may haveconsiderably less tension than would be required to counterbalance athree-section door of the same weight as my two-section door.

For ensuring tight abutment of the door sections with the jamb or stopC, the rollers I2 follow the downwardly-curved ends 1 of the horizontaltracks 4 to bring the upper section of the door into tight abutment withthe stop C, and the vertical tracks IlL are inclined downwardly andoutwardly so asr to guide the lower end of the door into tight abutmentwith the stop.

A modification of the invention is shown in Figures 13 to 21 inclusivewhich is in general similar to that hereinbefore described. The maindifference between this modified construction and the constructionhereinbefore describedis in the vertical tracks 24 which are in the formo1' a strip of metal instead of a channel track, and instead of therollers I5 at the bottom end ofthe door, shoes 25 are provided to followthe track 24.

As shown, each shoe comprises an approximatelychannel-shaped memberwhich has a keyhole slot 26 in its base through which removably projectsa pin 21 of a diameter corresponding to the larger end of the keyholeslot. 'The pin also has a circumferential groove'z of a Iii diametercorresponding to the smaller end 29 oi the keyhole slot so that when theedges of the portion 29 of the slot are disposed in the groove 28, thepin is held against axial movement out of the slot. The pin is screwthreaded at 30 into a block 3| secured in a recess 32 in the lowercorner of the door and projects from the side edge of the door. The endof the cable I9 of the counter-balancing mechanism is connected to theshoe 25 as clearly shown in Figures 18 and 21.

When the parts of the door are assembled, one iiange 33 of the shoe isdisposed at one side of the vertical track 24 while the pin 21 isdisposed at the other side of the track, and accordingly the shoe andpin 21 guide the lower end of the lower section of the door along thevertical track 24 during opening and closing movements of the door.Preferably atleast the lower portion of the vertical track 24 isinclined downwardly and outwardly at 34 so as to direct the lower end ofthe lower section of the door into tight abutment with the stop C in thedoor opening.

With this construction, the length of the sections of the hinge 35,corresponding to the hinge E, may be less than the length of thesections of the hinge E, because the arcuate track I l may be disposedcloser to the door stop C.

In this form of the invention, the downwardly curved ends `1 of thehorizontal track 1 are omitted as shown in Figures 13 and 14 althoughthey may be utilized if desired.

Any suitable locking mechanism may be utilized with the door, but oneform is illustrated in Figures 11 and 12 and includes a keeper lug 3Gsecured to the wall above the door opening, and a latch bolt 31 tocooperate with said keeper lug and slidable in a bracket 38 secured tothe upper portion oi the inner side of the upper door section. 'Ihe bolt31 normally is influenced into (iii position to engage the keeper lug bya spring 39, and may be operated to disengage the bolt from the keeperlug by a knob 40 rotatably mounted in the door section and having acrank arm 4i connected by a' iiexible connector 42 to the bolt. llidesired, the knob may have a key controlled lock for locking the knobagainst rotation. In

addition to serving as an operator for a lock, the

knob 40 may' also serve as a gripping member to lift the doorlsectionsin openingthe door.

For initiating downward movement of thedoor sections into Aclosedposition, the lower section may have a suitable handle 43.

A further modification of the invention is shown in Figures 22 to 29inclusive, which is in general the same as that shown in Figure 1, the

rnain difference between the two forms of the invention being in thetrack structure. In this rnodication a track structure is arranged ateach side of the door opening and includes a horizontal track 45extending rearwardly from the top at each slide of the door opening in amanner similar to the horizontal track 4 ofthe structure shown inFigure 1. At each side of the door opening is a second track structurewhich includes a vertical portion 46 and an arcuate'portion 41 thattraverse the angle between said vertical portion and the horizontaltrack 45. A roller 43 is journaled at each side edge of the top of thesection of the door, said rollers being movable along the horizontaltracks 45. A roller 49 is also journaied coincident with the hingedjoint between the door section D at each side of the door, while each oftwo other rollers 5|) is journaled at'each side edge of the bottom ofthe lower door section, the rollers 49 and 50 being vconnected to abracket arm 56 at the'side edge of the bottom of the lower section ofthe door.

With this construction, to open the door from the closed position shownin Figure 22, a slight lifting force is exerted' on the lower'sectionwhich will cause the rollers 48 to follow the horizontal tracks 45rearwardly and at the same time will cause the rollers 49 and 50 tofollow the vertical and arcuate portions 46 and -41 of the trackstructure until the two sections are brought into approximatelyhorizontal overhead position as shown in Figure 23. To close the door adownward pull is exerted upon the lower section whereupon the twosections descend along their respective tracks and the sections reachtheir common vertical door-closing position;

The radius of the arcuate portion 41 of the track structure is of thesame order as the radius of the arcuate track il of Figure 1, being, forexample of a length approximately from onethird to one-half the heightof the door opening B in which the door is mounted.

It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the details ofstructure of the invention may be modified or changed without departingfrom the spirit or scope of the invention.

Having thus described my invention, what IA claim is:

1. The combination with a wall having a door opening, of a doorcomprising two sections hingedly connected on a horizontal axis atadjacent edges to close said door opening when in a common verticalplane, a horizontal track extending rearwardly from the top at each sideoi the `door opening, a vertical track at each side of the door opening,an arcuate track traversing the angle between said vertical andhorizontal tracks, upper guide means mounted on the upper sectionadjacent each end of the top edge thereof and slidably. mounted in thecorresponding said horizontal track, intermediate guide means connected4to said sections adjacent each end of the hinged edges of said sectionsand slidable in the corresponding said arcuate track, and bottom guidemeans connected to the lower section adjacent each end of the bottomedge thereof and slidable in the corresponding said vertical track,whereby said door sections can be moved from a common verticaldoor-closing position upwardly to an approximately horizontal overheaddooropening position and vice versa.

2. The combination set forth in claim l, wherein said vertical tracksextend the full height oi the door opening and the last-mentioned guidemeans/travels the full length of said vertical tracks. I

3. The combination set forth in claim l, wherein the radius oi saidarcuate track is related to said vertical and horizontal tracks and tothe height of said door sections so that said intermediate guide meansand either of said upper and bottom guide means shall not be disposed atthe same time in said vertical or horizontal tracks beyond opposite endsof said arcuate track.

4. The combination set forth in claim 1 wherein said arcuate track isdiscontinuously related to each of said horizontal and vertical tracksand disposed inwardly of both thereof.

5. The combination with a Wall having a door opening. of a doorcomprising two sections hingedly connected on a horizontal axis atadjacent edges to close said door opening when in a common verticalplane, a horizontal track extending rearwardly from the top at each sideof the door opening, guide means at the top of each side edge of theupper section of the door slidable in said horizontal track, a verticaltrack at each side of the door opening, guide means adjacent the bottomof each side edge of the lower section of the door slidable along saidvertical tracks, an arcuate track at each side of the door openingextending from a point below the hinged edges of said door sectionsupwardly and inwardly to a point intermediate the length of thecorresponding said horizontal track, and guide means approximatelycoincident with said hinged edges at each end of the door sectionsslidable along said arcuate track.

6. The combination set forth in .claim 1 wherein the forward ends ofsaid horizontal tracks curve downwardly and terminate at a pointadjacent the top of the door opening, and said vertical track isinclined outwardly and downwardly, whereby to cause said door to tightlyabut the inner side of said wall at the top and sides of said dooropening.

7. The combination with a wall having a door opening, of a doorcomprising two sections hingedly connected on a horizontal axis atadjacent edges to close said door opening when in a common verticalplane, a horizontal track structure extending rearwardly from the top ateach side of the door opening, a second track structure at each side ofthe door opening beneath the corresponding horizontal track structureincluding a vertical portion and a curved portion that traverses theangle between said vertical portion and said horizontal track, upperguide means slidably supporting the upper end of the top section of thedoor in said horizontal track, interl mediate guide means approximatelycoincident with said hinged edges of said sections at each side edge ofthe door sections. and lower guide means adjacent the bottom of eachside edge of the lower section of the door, both said intermediate andlower guide means being slidably mounted in said second trackstructures, the radii of said curved portions of the second trackstructures beingof a length of the order of from approximately one-thirdto approximately onehalf of the height of the door opening, whereby saiddoor sections can be moved from a common vertical door-closing positionupwardly to an approximately horizontal overhead door-opening positionand vice versa.

HENRY B. CLARK.

